Marx’s theory on labour still has capital
September 6, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
By Edmund Conway
Published: 10:42PM BST 06 Sep 2009
A few years ago the British Broadcasting Corporation asked its radio listeners
to vote for their favourite philosopher. As the votes poured in there were
some obvious favourites from the start – Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Hume
and Nietzsche among them – but as the counting started it soon transpired
that there was a clear winner for the title of Britain’s favourite
philosopher: Karl Marx.
Marx’s key point was that societies are in the midst of a process of evolution
from less sophisticated, less fair economic systems towards an ideal final
destination. Having started off in feudal states and moved on through
mercantilism to the modern system of capitalism, human society would
naturally soon graduate to a fairer, more utopian system. That system, he
argued, was communism.
In a communist society, property and the means of production (factories,
tools, raw materials, etc.) would be owned not by private individuals or
companies, but by everyone. Initially the state would own and control all
companies and institutions, running them from the top down and ensuring
companies did not oppress their workers. Eventually, however, the state
would ‘wither away’.
Union’s Tesco challenge defeated
July 4, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
Tesco shareholders are facing a call to end "exploitation and discrimination" affecting workers in firms that supply meat to the supermarket group.
The trade union Unite has tabled a motion to be debated at Tesco’s annual general meeting, being held in Glasgow.
Go-ahead for Sahara gas pipeline
July 4, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
Nigeria, Niger and Algeria have signed an agreement to build a multi-billion dollar pipeline to take Nigerian gas across the Sahara to the Mediterranean.
The giant project, which will cost an estimated $13bn (£8bn), aims to deliver up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas per year for the European market.
Europe nears gas pipeline accord
July 4, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
European governments are due to sign an agreement on the Nabucco gas pipeline on 13 July, the European Commission has announced.
The Nabucco pipeline will bring Central Asian gas to western Europe via Turkey and the Balkans, bypassing Russia.
Madoff’s luxury penthouse seized
July 3, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
US marshals seized the $7m Manhattan penthouse of imprisoned fraudster Bernard Madoff, forcing his wife Ruth to move elsewhere.
A spokesman for the US Marshals Service said Mrs Madoff was present when agents took possession of the apartment.
Rogue trades cost oil broker $10m
July 3, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
A rogue trader at a London oil broker caused his employer to lose $10m (£6m) after making unauthorised trades.
PVM Oil Futures said it was a "victim of unauthorised trading on Tuesday June 30" and said it was conducting a full investigation.
IMF refuses new aid for Zimbabwe
July 3, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
The International Monetary Fund has told Zimbabwe that it will not provide the country with more funds until its existing $1bn debts are settled.
Zimbabwe’s government estimates it will need $10bn (£6bn) of foreign aid to help rebuild its battered economy.
Game Group warns of profit fall
July 3, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
Shares in computer games retailer Game Group have fallen 14% after it warned half-year profits may be 64% lower.
Game said like-for-like sales - which excludes the impact of new store openings - were down 15% in the six months to 27 June from a year before.
Vodafone in deal with Carphone
July 3, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
Carphone Warehouse is to restart selling Vodafone mobile phone contracts, three years after Vodafone pulled the products from the retailer.
Vodafone stopped allowing Carphone Warehouse to sell its range of pay monthly deals in 2006 after a dispute over how much commission it had to pay.
Euro interest rates kept on hold
July 3, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
<img width=’285′ src=”http://perspicacious.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/07602__46001256_ecb_rates_466_july.gif” align=”left” width=”466″ height=”305″ alt=”Graph of ECB interest rates” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>
The European Central Bank‘s (ECB) rate-setters have kept their key rate unchanged at 1.0% for another month following their regular meeting.
The bank was meeting in Luxembourg for one of the two meetings a year that it holds outside Frankurt.
